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The limited data that is available suggests that Lake Erie continues to require remediation. Additional data about the longer-term trends of a number of indicators are needed to better understand Lake Erie’s health and needs.

Lake Erie Quality Index

Lake Erie Quality Index

This table compares quality indicators for Lake Erie, as reported in the 1998 and 2004 State of the Lake Reports, which were produced by the Ohio Lake Erie Commission.

Five of these indicators were downgraded between the 1998 and 2004 reports, which is reason for concern.

No report was produced for 2010, however, and no report is planned for the future. Additional data is needed to identify more robust trends for Lake Erie quality indicators.

This chart, which is based on Beach Advisory data provided through the Ohio Department of Public Health’s Beach Guard program, shows the average number of days per year that Lake Erie beaches in each listed county have been under contamination advisory.

Data for additional years is necessary to identify any long-term trends, but the chart suggests that while contamination at Lake Erie beaches is persistent, it may be slowly improving.

Home » An Evolving Understanding » The limited data that is available suggests that Lake Erie continues to require remediation. Additional data about the longer-term trends of a number of indicators are needed to better understand Lake Erie’s health and needs.

3 responses to The limited data that is available suggests that Lake Erie continues to require remediation. Additional data about the longer-term trends of a number of indicators are needed to better understand Lake Erie’s health and needs.

always hard to find the right place to raise the issue of road salt contamination of watersheds, aquifers, and our Great Lake: Erie. From a purely economic viewpoint alone, our short-sightedness costs us far more in annual automobile and infrastructure maintenance, repair, and replacement than it saves us in productivity,healthcare and accident avoidance. And all of it ultimately winds up in the lake from which we draw our drinking water.